Family: Man Accidentally Shot & Killed While Drinking With Friends

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Family members confirm 25-year-old Justin Finklea was shot dead in his residence on Wednesday night in what appears to be a tragic accident.

Justin's mother, Cristy, tells WCCO's Mary McGuire her son was a father of two boys, who were just 5 and 7 years old.

She said her son was drinking with his friends at his residence on the 400 block of West Michigan Street when they began playing with a gun and he was accidentally shot.

First responders rushed to the scene and tried to save him, but Justin was pronounced dead shortly after.

It's still unclear who pulled the trigger of the gun that fired the fatal shot.

We do know that St. Paul Police arrested one man early this morning in connection with the shooting.

Finklea was a graduate of Forest Lake High School.

The family set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to help out his two sons who are now without their father, just a few days before Christmas.